« The goal of this web site is to give people a different way to learn about the history of the Montreal melon. These melons were incredibly popular from the end of the 19th century until the end of the World War II. They also put Montreal “on the map,” as these melons were exported to several luxury hotels in the United States and were sold at a higher price than steak!

They disappeared as the city’s population expanded and “ate” away at the surrounding farm lands, and these melons were not suited for agribusiness as they were labour intensive and needed a lot of daily care.

A journalist found old seeds for this melon in a seed bank in Iowa and took them back to Montreal. With these seeds, an organic farmer of Ile-Perrot makes the Montreal melon alive again. »

I am a Senior Researcher at the University of Chester. My forthcoming book, A Town Called Asbestos: Environmental Change, Health, and Resilience in a Resource Community will be released by the University of British Columbia Press on 1 January 2016. My research interests are in transnational environmental health and contamination, and I always seek to blend historical research with public engagement.